Chesca Potter says, in her introduction to the "On Line
Greenwood Tarot Handbook" found here:

"It is obvious that to an earlier hunting and gathering
culture, subtle observation of seasonal change was essential for survival. The
tarot is subtitled the ‘pre-Celtic Shamanism of the Mythic Forest’. This
means that I have traced the origins of the archetypal figures in the tarot back
to their pre-historic roots; taking what is most ancient and updating it, so
that it is relevant to the contemporary world. It took me four years to research
and recreate the Greenwood Tarot; I lived it day and night. I was continually
struck by the importance of the tarot as a unified system, a wonderful map,
combining and explaining psychological states, deities, archetypes, and the
natural world. The Greenwood Tarot is a form of eco-psychology, a modern
shamanism. I believe in magic, in wonder, in the extraordinary that can occur
when one’s heart is open to possibilities…The Greenwood Tarot aims to give a
coherent European shamanic system so that there is no need to steal imagery from
other cultures."

As stated in my introduction to the individual reviews, I see
quite a bit of symbolism in this deck that I regard as more specifically pagan
than I do shamanic, but this is nevertheless a good deck with a real shamanic
feel. It stands alone in the hundreds of tarot decks as one that accomplishes a
feeling for genuine Celtic shamanism, although the author does state that it is
more precisely "pre-Celtic". Some cards are in fact pre-Celtic to the
point of prehistoric, as in the chiseller depicted in the Eight of Stones.

A card I really like is the Two of Wands, an
illustration that is based on the chalk figure of the ‘Long One of Wilmington’,
UK. In this card, the Shaman literally stands in the gateway between two worlds,
though it is more indicative of a choice between old world and new than it is
between the differing realities of the Upper, Middle and Lower Worlds. It
symbolizes understanding and reawakening.

The Strength card reminds me of the Sekmet
statues in Egypt, but the animal-headed statue on top of this woman’s spear
predates the Sekmet statues by 28,000 years. This is a great card for the
Shaman, as it stands for the courage, strength and balance necessary for
dedication to a path that is both misunderstood and feared by many. Ms. Potter
says of the card: "It is a card of fullness seeking release…ecstatic
dance or trance that could become oracular…"

The Seer is depicted at twilight when legends say that
the veil between the worlds is thin. Her cloak/mask are of the barn owl, which
symbolizes the heart of the land.

I highly recommend this deck for self exploration to the
person on the path of the Celtic (or pre-Celtic) Shaman.

You can read another review of the Greenwood Tarot by Michele Jackson here.

Valerie Sim-Behi is
the founder and moderator of Comparative
Tarot, an email list devoted to studying cards of different decks in
comparison to each other. She has worked with the tarot for over 30
years. Valerie created a spread that will appear in the book accompanying
the Victoria-Regina Tarot by Sarah Ovenall, and has written various articles,
including one on the Comparative Tarot method that will be published in
Llewellyn's Tarot Calendar 2002. You can visit Valerie at the Comparative
Tarot website. Valerie wants to offer special thanks to Leah
Pugh, Scanner Goddess for this series.